“Sometimes, at night, I feel the images, like ants, crawling on my skin. Then I know they are doing what they must do…”

The fact that The Illustrated Man has been continuously reprinted since its publication in 1951 is irrefutable testimony to the universal acceptance of Ray Bradbury's work. It is a wonderful, though largely dark, amalgam of science fiction, fantasy literature, and horror literature.

With the clever framing that opens and closes the book, Bradbury introduces himself as the anonymous narrator who meets the Illustrated Man – a wanderer whose entire body is a living canvas adorned with exotic tattoos. Even more notable, and increasingly unsettling, is that the illustrations themselves are magically alive.

If El Greco in his prime had created miniatures no larger than the size of a palm, infinitely detailed, with his entire ochre-yellow color palette, the elongation of forms, and his anatomy, he might have considered using this man's body for his art… However, the Illustrated Man has tried to scorch his illustrations. He has tried sandpaper, acid, and a knife.

Because when the sun sets, the images shimmer like embers, like scattered diamonds. They flicker and come alive. The figures activate their stories – voices rise, small and soft, foretelling the future. Each story unfolds and reveals its own narrative, just like in “The Savanna,” where some misfit children play a virtual reality game beyond all limits.

Or in “Kaleidoscope,” a poignant portrait of washed-up astronauts preparing to re-enter our atmosphere unprotected. Or in “Zero Hour,” where alien invaders have discovered their most plausible ally – our very own children.

Although written in the 1940s and 1950s, these classic stories will remain chillingly relevant even fifty years from now.

Accompanied by a postscript by the translator and a text by Margaret Atwood about Bradbury.

“Bradbury never learned to drive a car. He is a proud technophobe who also despises computers, the internet, and ATMs. However, you don’t need a driver’s license to cross the galaxy with your imagination. And that is why Ray Bradbury is the one person you would want behind the wheel.” – Ted Gioia

“A provocative and powerful book, The Illustrated Man is a kaleidoscopic blend of magic, fantasy, and truth – as thrilling as interplanetary travel, frenetic as a walk under a million years of rain, and comforting as simple, family routines on the last night of the world.” – From the back cover of the American edition

“Ray Bradbury has accomplished something that few artists achieve. With his visions of possible futures and disturbing interpretations of the present… he has changed us.” – The Boston Globe

“Master Bradbury has a style all his own that many have imitated but no one has matched.” – Portland Oregonian

At first glance, it appears to be science fiction firmly rooted in the American tradition of the 1950s – the paranoia of McCarthyism, fears of an impending apocalypse due to the Cold War, worry about colonial ambitions, racial discrimination, and the dangers of television.

However, as Bradbury's stories stand before us, we discover that the questions he poses and the concerns he explores are universal in nature. Bradbury struggled to shed the label of science fiction writer, even demanding that the words “Science Fiction” be removed from the first edition of The Illustrated Man.

The "science" and the intergalactic settings provide only the background for the true focus of his so unique stories – which Bradbury himself referred to as “strange corners” of the human psyche. By examining these corners, Bradbury takes us far away from the worlds of traditional science fiction, warning us of the danger of forgetting our fundamental humanity.

COVER ART: ACHILLEAS CHRISTIDES